Carmen de Patagones is the southernmost city in the .

Geography

It is located 937 km southwest from the city of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, on the north bank of the Río Negro ("Black River"), near the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, and opposite Viedma, capital of the province of Río Negro. The city is the capital of the Patagones Partido, the only administrative division of Buenos Aires Province that lies within

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

History

The town was founded in 1779 by Francisco de Viedma, an explorer leading a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

expedition commissioned with colonizing Patagonia's shores. In the 19th century, Carmen de Patagones had a fort, and after the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

of 1810, it became a prison for royalists (Spaniards and pro-Spanish locals against the

independence movement Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

). Later, during the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War (), also known as the Argentine-Brazilian War () or, in Argentine and Uruguayan historiography, as the Brazil War (''Guerra del Brasil''), the War against the Empire of Brazil (''Guerra contra el Imperio del Brasil'') or t ...

(1825–1828), the town became a naval base, since the main Argentine safe harbour, the estuary of the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

, had been blocked by Brazilian ships. The Brazilian troops attempted to take Carmen de Patagones, but they were repelled by armed residents on 7 March 1827; this date is still commemorated with a festival in the city. The city maintains two imperial Brazilian flags captured during the battle in the central cathedral on the site of the original fort where the battle took place. The town and its twin city, Viedma, became the focus of attention in 1986, when President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

announced the Patagonia Project, which envisaged the transfer of the nation's capital to a new federal district encompassing the two towns at the mouth of the Río Negro. Approved by the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1987, the plan was rescinded when Alfonsín's successor, President Carlos Menem, disbanded Entecap, the commission overseeing the project, in 1989.

References

*
''Carmen de Patagones, la fiesta del 7 de marzo''
{{Authority control Populated places in Buenos Aires Province Populated places established in 1779 Tourist attractions in Buenos Aires Province 1779 establishments in the Spanish Empire

Geography

History

See also

References